Afghan people must not be ‘abandoned’, Red Cross says

Afghanistan may have faded from international attention, but the International Committee of the Red Cross says its population cannot be left behind. Yasmine Praz Dessimoz, the ICRC's director of operations, made the appeal in Kabul after several days in the country.

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We see a population struggling to survive, with significant humanitarian needs, a health system that is collapsing and high unemployment.

“We see a population struggling to survive, with significant humanitarian needs, a health system that is collapsing and high unemployment,” she told AFP. Her assessment came as humanitarian services face mounting pressure from falling international aid and donations.

UNICEF warned last week that one million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition could die without help. The United Nations has also said that 100 clinics treating child malnutrition have closed because international assistance has declined.

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Afghanistan is not often in the media spotlight today, nor even in high-level international discussions.

The ICRC has kept Afghanistan among its five largest operations worldwide despite its own funding constraints. It supports 46 clinics and seven rehabilitation centers, particularly for people injured during the country’s wars. “We had to make very difficult choices to remain alongside the Afghan population,” Praz Dessimoz said. She added that the collapse of the health system across the country meant the organization would need to be everywhere.

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Afghan communities must not be abandoned.

The ICRC has chosen to prioritize areas along the Durand Line, the border with Pakistan, where fighting between the neighboring states intensified from October through spring. The clashes displaced thousands of people in Afghanistan and killed or injured hundreds of civilians. The organization maintains ties with both Kabul and Islamabad.

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We had to make very difficult choices to remain alongside the Afghan population.